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Tuesday, May 29, 2007

I read the article “Amitji is sexy but I prefer Abhishek” in today’s (29 May’07) paper. This article features on the front page of the ‘Bombay Times’ supplement. It is about a child artist ‘Swini Khara’ who acted in the latest, much talked about, Amitabh starrer movie “Cheeni Kum”. The article is basically an interview with this child artist about her success and her take on being labeled “sexy” in this movie.

The byline of the article says this: I quote “Swini Khera lives with her ‘Sexy’ tag thanks to her role as Amitabh Bachchan’s cute girl friend in Cheeni Kum.”I object to the word ‘Sexy’ being used for a child artist. It is bad enough that we have got into this trend of labeling each and every woman or female artist who appears on the silver screen as ‘Sexy’ irrespective of whether she really deserves the title or not! But, using this tag for a child, barely 9 or 10 years old takes the cake! Aren’t we all hypocrites? Here we are (that is- the moral police) objecting to all kinds of things happening in our country, from PDA to women being forced to wearing proper clothes in college, to avoid being an object of “Sexual desire” for guys, etc…! And in contrast, the media seems to think it is perfectly alright to label a mere kid as ‘sexy’! Are we encouraging "pedophiles" here in projecting kids as "objects of Sexual desire", more so after the infamous scandulous case of "Nithari" killings coming to light!It's shocking!

Here, I would like to ask this reporter, Ms Priyanka Dasgupta, as to how she would react if someone called her child daughter ‘sexy’? We, as parents, try to teach our children good language and I would have objected if my kid started using such language, who is of the same age! I would like to ask her if she thinks that this Swini really understands what this word means? To top it all, in the interview, she also asks Swini if she considers Amitji to be “Sexy” or not? I very strongly object to this line of questioning for child artists! We should let kids be kids and should try to refrain from using such words in their presence! It’s bad enough that they get to hear these things on TV etc… But, we can avoid using it ON kids in particular!It is my sincere request, Kindly leave kids out of it! And such articles should not feature in your paper, leave alone the front page!

I just hope, for the sake of decency, that someone takes notice of this!

Saturday, May 26, 2007

The music maestro A.R Rahman has been roped in by IMCL to compose a song for India’s most celebrated tourist destination, Taj Mahal. The album for the music has been composed by A.R Rahman himself and the lyrics for the same have been co-written with Raqueeb. The song is set to hit the charts soon.The music maestro, being a romantic himself, is not leaving any stones unturned in his attempts to get votes for this great monument. He is to go to the US to perform this song next week and he plans to perform in all the nine shows that have been planned there. There is also a show to be held in New Delhi where he will be performing.

According to Rahman, the monument is a symbol of [b]love[/b] all round the world and the maestro is pulling out all the stops to ensure that the Taj Mahal is voted one of the ‘Seven Wonders of the World’. While the song is primarily for this purpose, Rahman, feels that Taj Mahal is much more than a monument. “Taj Mahal is not just a monument of marble. What’s gone into making it is what makes it remarkable. It’s no longer Shah Jahan’s or Mumtaz Mahal’s Taj Mahal, it’s ours. To all those who have loved, are in love and plan to fall in love, it’s a request to vote for the symbol of love. It’s our pride that’s at stake.” Says Rahman.

Friday, May 25, 2007

The Taj is probably the most important and well known Indian monument. It is also India’s identity abroad. It is a symbol of love and portrays grace and elegance rather than Power in sharp contrast to the other architecture of that era. It is poetry and prose in marble.The best part is that the monument is still alive; it is not in ruins, getting dilapidated or reduced to just another monument in the heritage list. Words, pictures and videos are not enough to describe or even feel the majestic grandeur and the unparalleled beauty of the monument. The magic created by the evening light transforming the structure in a myriad of colors of different hues is mind blowing.

Most Indians of my generation and probably a generation up and down grew up with a misconception that Taj was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. I am sure that like me all my contemporaries were also disappointed as and when they came to know the truth and wondered why. How was such a marvel left out of the wonders of the world? There was nothing we could do about it.

But the wait is over. We now have the perfect opportunity to redeem our debt to this magnificent glory of our country. The new7wonders (N7W) foundation has initiated a global campaign to select the new Seven Wonders of the World. The foundation has short listed 21 structures based on criteria like time span, structure quality, dimensions etc. The selection of the final seven will be done out of these 21 short listed monuments purely on a voting system. The voting can be done online, by SMS or by certificate voting. The voting online process is fairly simple. Just logon to http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php?id=351&L=0 and follow a three step process.

The Taj Mahal

This is a perfect opportunity for the people, in India and abroad, to show their love and support to this beautiful and magnificent monument and bring it to the forefront globally. Let one and all, Indians and foreigners see and feel this beauty and grandeur in its natural environment. It’s sad to note that so far Indians have not risen to the occasion. Therefore, I wish to make this sincere appeal to all people who have seen the Taj or know of it to please make your voice heard and vote for it now. I have done my bit and have put my vote.

The Beauty of Taj Mahal

Just look at this monument above and feel the love and sadness, the riches and the poverty, the power and the helplessness of the man who built it in the memory of his lost love. It deserves to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Go!Vote for it now.

Just 42 days left to make your vote count. So do it now. The Taj still needs over 30 crore votes to make it to the list! Make History: Vote for the Taj.Read my post on Taj:Taj Mahal:The monument of lovehttp://www.xomba.com/taj_mahal_monument_of_love

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

See these images, photos of Aishwarya Rai.She is the reigning queen of bollywood. an actress,a successful international model and now married to the "Junior" Big B. She is the only indian actress to have been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey.

Aishwarya Rai was born in the south indian state of Karnataka in Manglore on 1st Nov 1973. She was younger of the two siblings, her brother being 3 yrs elder. When she was about 4 years old her family moved to Bombay permanatly. Her father worked as a merchant navy officer. Aishwarya did her schooling at Arya Vidya Mandir, Santacruz. Academically, she did very well and earned her position as the head girl of her school. Ash chose the science stream while at DG Ruparel College, her favorite subject being Zoology. Aishwarya wanted to do medicine, but circumstances didn't let her. Instead she chose Architecture and passed the interview at Raheja College with flying colors. By this time, Aishwarya had started getting modelling assignments. She then decided to take a break from architecture and concentrate on modelling. From that point there was no looking back. Ash became a household name with the pepsi ad campaign. She was crowned Miss Femina World and went on to win the Miss world title at Sun City in 1994. Ash had now joined the Bollywood film industry and working under many prestigious banners.Watch this exclusive video of Aishwarya clip made with the song Beyonce'"naughty girl".

Our Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty is once again in the news, this time- Good news. She shared the red carpet with her Big Brother companion, Danielle Lloyd at the premiere of her film -but there was no sign of Jade Goody!The actress said that she was proud that her film, Life In A... Metro, was making its debut in London's Leicester Square.Shetty said: "This is the first-ever Leicester Square premiere for an Indian movie. It's something that I once dreamed of but never imagined would happen."Shetty wore a colourful Indian outfit to the central London event, while Lloyd opted for an Eric black dress which was slit to the thigh, revealing a little too much when she tried to untangle it from under her heel.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Hema Malini is another one of my all-time favorite actresses of Bollywod. She is remembered by one and all as the “Dream Girl” of Bollywood due to her unforgettable role in the movie ‘Dream girl’ paired opposite the actor Dharmendra. I was in love with them both and loved to watch them on screen together. They were probably one of the most romantic couples on screen in those days. And their romantic interest in each other in real life aided in their movies being box office hits.

Hema Malini has done a lot of work in Hindi cinema. She can proudly boast of playing the romantic lead role as a heroine in more than 1000 films. The only other actress known to match this is Rekha. She was born in Madras on October 16, 1948. She trained as a Bharat Natyam dancer and made her debut in Raj kapoor”s film “Sapnon ka Saudagar” in 1968. She was the second South Indian film star next to Vyjayantimala to be a major hindi film star.Ironically, her career had almost ended before it could even begin. She was thrown out of a Tamil film in 1964, for the reason that she had no “star appeal”! Hema then resolved to make it big in the place where it mattered more - Bollywood.

And what a performance it has been! She has acted in a variety of roles and made quite an impact in the industry. There would be a huge void that would be irreplaceable after her exit. She has made her mark not only in her acting career but also as a proficient and professional classical dancer. She is truly a woman of substance today and I look upto her as a good role model for women today. Her beauty and grace has charmed the hearts of many a men and continue to do so even today!She has been paired opposite the then top heroes of the industry, Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Jeetender, Dharmendra, Raaj Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan etc…Her roles to be remembered are: As Raaj Kumar’s Scheming mistress in Lal Pathar (1971). She not only made the audience empathize with her negative role but also stole a march over Rakhee, a great actress of that time. She dared to play the role of a young widow in Andaaz (1971), a role that was turned down by most actresses. She tried to change her glamorous image by working with Gulzar and did some of her best and perhaps most introspective work in films like – Khushboo (1975), Kinara (1977) and Meera (1979).

She has shown daring roles not only in cinema but also in her real life by having an affair and marrying Dharmendra who was already married at that time. She took up the role of the second wife and has shown great courage and determination by sticking to her ideals and living life on her own terms.She has a lot more than just films and her dance career to her credit. She is also a successful magazine editor (New Woman).She has also joined politics and is an active member of the Rajya Sabha. She has contributed a lot, in her own ways, towards the cultural development of this country. And we are proud of her! Unfortunately, there aren’t that many roles for women of her age in the hindi cinema and therefore we are deprived of this great actress’s beauty and grace and talent, that would have been a treat for sore eyes. She made a come back with Baghbaan (2003) and it was an instant hit.

I am sure that people would love to see more of her films.Some of her most memorable films are:

If rumors are to be believed and these Photos are any indication of the truth: The newly married couple was spotted shopping at an Apple store in France recently.It appears that the frenzy is still continuing.The first pictures of Abhishek, Aishwarya on their honeymoon have leaked on the internet.Photos of the couple shopping at an Apple store in France are now doing the rounds.We are told Abhishek is a gizmo freak and he was quite excited to check out Apple’s new iPhone.

Bollywood has had some of the most beautiful leading ladies, from the 50's to date,who have featured in the Lux advertisements throughout the years, can be now seen together in a coffee table book tittled Lux Inspiring Beauty which was launched on Thursday night in Mumbai.The book has been edited and compiled by Omar Qureshi.The book was unveiled by eternal beauties — of eras past, present and forever — Zeenat Aman, Juhi Chawla and next Lux gal, Priyanka Chopra. But the biggest part of the evening was when the living legend and thespian Dilip Kumar — probably the greatest romantic hero of all time to have romanced every beauty — was called onstage with his beautiful wife Saira Banu to release the book along with the rest.Also present were Anil Kapoor, Sameera Reddy, Randeep Hooda, Chunky Panday, Farah Khan and a host of celebs — clapping and whistling throughout.New Lux model Priyanka Chopra was thrilled to be on the same platform as Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu, Zeenat Aman and Juhi Chawla to launch the book and loved every bit of the attention.Lux — Inspiring Beauty has opening comments from stalwarts like Dilip Kumar, Rakesh Roshan, Karan Johar, Dev Anand, Mahesh Bhatt, Rishi Kapoor and more, exclusive photos and even a post script by Shah Rukh Khan. It is now available on the stands and is definitely a must-have — for beauties worldwide.Watch it all in this video by CnnIbn

Saturday, May 12, 2007

His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will, but that's O.K.".......

Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does Mom seem to cry for no reason?". "All women cry for no reason," was all his Dad could say......

The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.

Finally he put in a call to God and when God got back to him, he asked "God, why do women cry so easily?"

GOD answered......

"When I made woman, I decided she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet, made her arms gentle enough to give comfort...

I gave her the inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times will come even from her own children.

I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going and take care of her family and friends, even when everyone else gives up, through sickness and fatigue without complaining....

I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances. Even when her child has hurt her badly....

She has the very special power to make a child's boo-boo feel better and to quell a teenager's anxieties and fears....

I gave her strength to care for her husband, despite faults and I fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart....

I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly....

For all of this hard work, I also gave her a tear to shed. It is hers to use whenever needed and ! it is her only weakness.... When you see her cry, tell her how much you love her, and all she does for everyone, and even though she may still cry, you will have made her heart feel good.

She is special! Please send this to women you know, and those with mothers, sisters, and special women in their lives.

But, also send this to men so they will understand about what a wonderful thing a woman is. Each day is a mountain that must be climbed; with courage each step gets easier.

Yet another round of talent hunts began last week on Sony TV’s Indian Idol. Well, after being subjected to two such torturous reality shows, nobody is really watching with bated breaths for this one! It’s become all too predictable and routine for the Indian viewers. The long queues, the tears, the joy and the drama with the judges are all too familiar! The question that is on everybody’s mind is – What happened to the other winners of the Indian Idol show 1 & 2? I am filled with amazement when I see these long queues of people, from all parts of the country, gathering to give auditions for this reality show!Let’s take a look at some of the earlier reality shows and see what happened to those contestants! Most of the stars faded almost immediately the show was over. Remember the very talented Rahul Vaidya, who showed great promise and was the blue-eyed boy of the Indian Idol judges, is still waiting for a major break. Rahul had been applauded by all the judges, so, are they helping him? No, there doesn’t seem to be any push or help of any sorts so far! Even the channel seems to lose interest in them soon after the show is over!For that matter, even Aditi Paul and Prajakta Shukla, the runners up of the Indian Idol 1, are still struggling to get a break! The winner of the first show, Abhijeet Sawant is not any better off. He seems to have disappeared after his first album “Apka Abhijeet” was released and hasn’t done anything else! What happened to Sandeep Acharya – 2nd Winner of Indian Idol? This lad from Rajasthan got instant appreciation and limelight but failed to make a mark so far! We haven’t seen him at all. As for the runner up of Indian Idol2, NC Karunya- got to sing one song in the film “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”.Let’s also take a look at the winners of the other reality shows that were aired on TV.

# The winners of ‘Cine Star Ki Khoj’, Aditi Sharma and Sarvar Ahuja – While the channel never made the promised movie with these winners, they played the lead in Mukta Arts’ “Khanna & Iyer”.# The MTV talent hunt winner- Panchi Bora is playing the lead in Ekta Kapoor’s “Qayamat”.# The runner up of ‘Cine Star Ki Khoj’ is visible in many ad campaigns and also got a chance to play Amitabh’s daughter in the film “Nishabd”.# The winners of ‘Fame Gurukul’- Qazi Taufeeq and Rooprekha Bannerjee are nowhere to be seen.

Now let’s shift the focus to American Idol and the scene there is entirely different. Take the case of Jennifer Hudson, who is an American Idol find, won the Oscar for the best supporting actress this time. Sanjaya Malakar, of weird hairdos and of debatable talent, may have been ousted from the contest but did get more than his Indian counterparts. He has, to his credit, been invited to the white house and is as popular as the contestants for the US Presidency. He also has Britney Spears showing interest in working with him!

Thursday, May 10, 2007

If you are looking for an inspirational poem that shows an understanding of what a mom has to deal with, this is the one. Every mom, young or old, knows this by heart and can only hope that her children will understand when they grow up.visit:http://www.xomba.com/an_inspirational_poem_for_mothers_day

Well, Mother’s Day is coming up on us again. Are you ready to “WOW” your mom with a show of thanks and gratitude? Will you honestly remember what motherhood is all about and what she did for you? To prepare you for adulthood, the stresses of life, teaching you how to make lemon-aide out of lemons.http://www.xomba.com/mothers_day_quotes_a_lifetime_of_love_doesnt_end_at_18

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 13th this year. With so little time left to prepare for this Mother's Day, are you coming up short on ideas? So often it's the simple things that matter most to us moms.http://www.xomba.com/22_nice_things_to_do_for_your_mom_on_mothers_day

PC World moms go public with the top tech products and services on their wish lists.Can't come up with the perfect gift idea for Mother's Day? Here's a hint from PC World's connected moms: Forget the flowers and candy. Bring on the iPods, BlackBerrys, or game consoles.Gifts for momhttp://www.xomba.com/great_tech_gifts_for_mothers_day

Saturday, May 5, 2007

I used to wonder what it would be like to be a mother. The big moment for me arrived one beautiful day in the month of July. I was in labor, in the hospital, and taken to the operating room for the caesarian section where I heard the first cry of my son in a state of semi consciousness.Thereafter, began my tryst with motherhood and its travails. I had lots of visitors and well wishers to congratulate me on my newly acquired status and along with the inevitable “advice”! All had something or the other to say and this continues even till today, when he is almost nine years old.“Don’t cover him with all these clothes, he’ll feel hot!”…….. Was the sagely advice given by some, and “cover him tightly, or he’ll feel cold?”…… yet another person’s tip. Do this and don’t do this or do that but don’t do this were some very confusing tips and advice given! It was all so very confusing!I wondered what to do. And then I did the only sensible thing that every parent should do, listened to my instincts! And I found that I was able to understand what my child wanted. I could feel his hunger, pain, discomfort, joy, heat or cold etc…. it was all very simple really! Just listen to your inner voice, and connect with your child. A mother’s instinct is always right!!! This is the advice I would give to all the new mothers out there, listen to advice given by others but most of all, LISTEN TO YOUR INSTINCT. Go with your instinct……….. And don’t be afraid. ALL THE BEST!

Taj Mahal at Agra, the most beautiful monument in our country, India, is a symbol of love and romance. Shah Jahan, the moghul emperor had it built in memory of his beautiful wife, Mumtaz.I had always wanted to make a vist to this great monument at least once in my lifetime. And the opportunity came last summer, when we made a trip to the north. We had a hectic trip to get to the Taj Mahal, and after a lot of struggle in getting an entry ticket and standing in long queues we finally managed to get in the gateway just before dusk set in. The sight of Taj Mahal was definitely worth all the trouble. We got to see the beauty of this great monument in the light of dusk. It's beauty was past compare. The feelings that the sight generates can not be described in words. Every man and woman who ever felt love and romance must visit Taj to experience it. Taj mahal is one destination that most foreign dignitaries, visiting India for the first time, make to without fail. Some of the famous people who have come here are Princess Diana, Bill Clinton, even the Pakistani President General Musharraf,etc....

Have you ever wondered what it is about Mr. Bean that makes you feel so entertained? My son is simply addicted to this character. We find him at prime time, switched to “Pogo” channel on TV to watch his all time favorite, Mr. Bean!Yes, its absolutely funny, hilarious, entertaining program on TV at present. But, what I like about Mr. Bean is his complete childlike innocence depicted in his character so well, by actor Rowan Atkinson. I guess that is one of the main reasons for his popularity among kids. He is shown living his life with full zest and spirit in each and every moment of his life. He seems to cherish each and every single event, moment that he gets to live life to the fullest! That is one good lesson to teach our youngsters! He certainly would be a very good role model for them.I guess that is what we people really need to remember as we grow older, to continue enjoying life as it comes and treat it with the same kind of zeal or enthusiasm that we did as kids.The childish nature of Mr. Bean is truly refreshing to watch, and somewhere at the back of our minds we all wish we could be like that at times! At times, I feel that we are robbing our children of their childish innocence very early in life as they are getting exposed to a lot of adult content in the media, i.e. TV, computers, newspapers, magazines et.al.At such times, when I’ve had a full day of seeing all “crap” on TV, newspapers, and other media stuff, I thank Mr. Bean to remind us that there is still hope. Mr. Bean is truly an evergreen character, I feel. And I am certainly looking forward to seeing his latest movie, Mr. Bean’s holiday, which has just been released here in Mumbai. Well, that’s it folks. If anybody wishes to share his or her thoughts regarding, why they like or dislike Mr. Bean, please feel free to do so.

Poor Richard! He would have never thought that a kiss, that too on the cheek, would have raised such a storm. Though he claims that he was just taking off from where he left “Shall We Dance”, he could have certainly used some other excuses like maybe he was just educating people on AIDS, that, it’s perfectly alright to kiss total strangers. Or, maybe that he was not a racist unlike some ‘goody’ ‘goody’ people, the entire West ( not all that wild anymore) did stand up as a society to rid themselves of the guilt by coming on strongly against the ‘jaded’ people. Richard probably only succumbed to the peer pressure. Maybe the real mistake Richard made was underestimating the desperation of the Indian media to grab a ‘Breaking News’. What Richard should understand is that if on that fateful day, even if he had kissed his own wife rather than Miss Big Brother, the hue and cry would have been the same. PDA is just not allowed here. And I am not talking of Personal Digital Assistant or Parenteral Drug Association. This one is Public Display of affection. So it poses a real problem for Mr. Gere. How does he come back to India? How does he keep his dates with the Dalai Lama. If things in India do not change I can see Richard upping the ante for the Tibetan cause so Dalai Lama can go home.

Infectious mononucleosis, also known as kissing disease,is a disease caused by the Epstein-Barr (EB) virus. This is a herpes type virus, which has also been implicated as the etiologic agent in Burkitt’s African jaw lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and lymphoblastic leukemia, all occurring in human beings.
The disease occurs mostly in children and young adults. The exact mechanism of human transmission of this disease is not entirely known, but one important means is thought to be through “deep kissing” or intimate oral exchange of saliva. It is due to this reason that the disease is sometimes been called the “kissing disease.” It is known that oral excretion of the EB virus may continue for as long as 18 months following onset of the disease, although this excretion may be either constant or intermittent.

Clinical features
The disease is characterized by fever, sore throat, headache, chills, cough, nausea or vomiting and lymphadenopathy. Splenomegaly and hepatitis are also known to occur with considerable frequency. This disease is frequently seen in the epidermic form.
The cervical lymph nodes are usually the first to exhibit enlargement, followed by lymph nodes of the axilla and groin. Symptoms of pharyngitis and tonsillitis are common, but not invariably present and skin rash has been occasionally reported.
The majority of cases in children appear to be asymptomatic. Most of the cases are known to occur in 15 to 20 year old age group.

Oral manifestations
There are apparently no specific oral manifestations of this condition, although secondary lesions do occur. These are in the form of acute gingivitis and stomatitis. There is an appearance of a white or grey membrane in various areas, palatal petechiae and occasional oral ulcers. The occurrence of palatal petechiae is an early clinical diagnostic sign of infectious mononucleosis. Research shows that a few patients with hemorrhagic tendency exhibited oronasopharyngeal bleeding, including bleeding from the gingival.

Treatment
There is no specific treatment for this disease. Various antibiotics have been used without great success. Bed rest and adequate diet are probably as good as any other therapy. The disease generally runs its course in two or three weeks and there are rarely any complications.

When to seek medical advice
If you've been feeling tired and weak; have had a persistent fever, headache, loss of appetite, rash and muscle aches; and have had swollen lymph nodes and tonsils — these are strong indications that you have mononucleosis. If rest and a healthy diet don't ease your symptoms within a week or two or if your symptoms recur, see your doctor.